How to Install an Aftermarket Car Stereo

Many new aftermarket stereos that are available now have iPod cables, or even a USB hub built right into them. You can now bring your digital music into your car without having to worry about a stack of CDs. These digital devices can store thousands of songs and can enhance your driving experience by finding songs quickly at the touch of a button, rather than searching through CD books to find the music you want to listen to.

For this reason, one of the first things most people are tempted to replace in their car is the factory stereo (deck); it is also one of the easiest items to install yourself, and with the following knowledge, you can save money on the shop-labour install time.  We will walk you through the entire process.

Before Starting:

a.       The first thing you need to do is also purchase a wiring harness that is designed specifically for your make, model, and year of car. They can range in price from $7 - $14, and can be purchased at almost any place that sells car decks.

b.      The other item you might need is a filler plate. This depends on your vehicle and the size of the new deck. Most older Honda factory stereos are the same size as most standard new decks and you will probably not need a filler plate. You can tell if you need one by comparing the sizes of the stereo currently installed in your vehicle to your new deck. For the install we are demonstrating here, we needed a filler plate.

Tools needed:

• Wire cutters/strippers
• Electrical tape
• Butt-end connectors (not necessary, but preferred)
• Zip ties
• Screw drivers (probably a Philips # 2(star) – depending on what your car requires, and a flathead)
• Bolts or screws to install trim plate (if necessary, see step 8)

The Install:

1.       First off, we’ll wire up the harnesses. You can do this at a table and not in your car if you want. The extra wiring harness you picked up is clearly labeled with writing on the wires themselves, and is colour coded to make the process as simple as possible. The wiring harness that came with the deck is usually colour coded with the exact same colouring. If not, the installation guide that came with your deck will give detailed information on what each wire is, and then you would just match up the wire function name on each harness. From here, it is just matching up the wires and connecting them. Most wiring harnesses are pre-cut for easy stripping. We recommend twisting the rubber coating while removing it from the wire to keep each wire from making a frayed mess. Use the butt-end connectors to ensure a solid connection of the wires. If you do not have butt-end connectors, use electrical tape. If you use the tape method, step number 2 is critical. Check your manual for any additional instructions. The wiring harness for our project was very complex; we needed to add a tab connector for the ground wire. Your wiring will probably be much simpler. 

2.       Next, you want to tidy up those wires by using zip-ties or electrical tape. This helps to clean up the wires and to ensure they do not come in contact with any metal inside the dashboard of your car. Leave the blue wire (remote) easily accessible for future installs of amplifiers for either subwoofers or speakers. (we’ll do that in a later post) We do recommend putting a piece of tape on the end of this wire to make sure it doesn’t come in contact with any metal in the dashboard. We added a connector to the end of our remote wire to make for a simple connection in the future. Our deck also came with a separate harness with RCA jacks for subwoofer control; because we are not installing subwoofers, we’ll leave out this harness.

3.       Now to your car. Remove any trim or pieces of the console that cover the factory deck. Check for screws that keep the console in place. On many newer cars, the trim just snaps into place. We recommend doing an internet search for “how to remove the factory stereo out of your make, model, and year of car”.

4.       Once the trim is out of the way, remove the factory stereo by unscrewing any bolts that attach it to your car, and disconnect the stereo from the wiring harness. If your vehicle does not require a trim plate, the factory deck is probably attached to its own built-in cage; unbolt the cage from the car, and remove the deck from the cage.

5.       For our particular deck, we have an iPod cable. So we removed the liner of the glove compartment, and drilled a hole just big enough to get the cable through (not the iPod connection side). Once drilled, we mounted the iPod converter box into place using zip ties inside the dashboard and installed the cable.

6.       Now is a good time to check your wiring job. Plug the harness into the back of the deck, and the other side into the harness of your car (the one that the factory stereo was plugged into). Plug in the antennae cable if you want to test the radio, and any other accessories that you want to test out (in our case, the iPod cable). If everything works, turn off the deck, and disconnect the harness from both the car and the back of the deck (you’ll understand why later).  

If it isn’t working, (1) make sure your car is turned on, (2) check your connections, making sure the wires are securely attached to each other and wired properly (you can check continuity by disconnecting the wiring harness from the vehicle and deck, and using a multi-meter set at the Ohm (Ω) or diode (triangle with a line through it) setting, and touching the respective pins on each side of the harness, (3) check your installation manual that came with the deck for troubleshooting, (4) check online for your make, model, and year of car to see if there are any “hidden” tricks to installing a deck in your particular vehicle, (5) or email us, and we can try to troubleshoot with you.

7.       If your vehicle does not require a trim plate, move onto step 9. If you need a trim plate for your vehicle, you will need to install the cage that your aftermarket deck came with. Simply slide the cage into the opening on the trim plate and fold the tabs of the cage over to secure the two pieces together.

8.       Trim plates are designed to bolt right into your vehicle. Bolt the trim plate into place using the existing bolts and where the pre-drilled holes are. If the holes do not line up with anywhere that has a bolt or screw, then you may need to purchase some screws to firmly mount the trim plate. 

Usually they don't look crooked, and this is not our error. It is the design of this particular trim plate.

9.       If your vehicle does not need a trim plate, then you use the existing screws that mounted the factory stereo into the cage, to mount the aftermarket deck. Aftermarket decks have pre-drilled and threaded holes on each side to attach the deck securely into place.

10.   Now you hook up the wiring harness to the harness in your car. We recommend doing this part before connecting the harness to the back of your new deck to make the installation much easier.

11.   Now is when you get to plug in your deck. Plug the harness into the back of the deck, and plug in your antennae cable. 

12.   You may need to play with the positioning of the wiring harnesses for this next step in order to get the deck to mount into place properly.

With Filler Plate: slide the deck into the cage and push it in all of the way. You will hear a “click” sound when the deck is securely in place.

Without Filler Plate: mount the cage with the deck back into place.

13.   If your deck came with a trim piece, put it on (usually just snaps into place)

14.   Here is a good time to double-check that your new deck is properly working before continuing on. Then, re-assemble the dashboard/console/trim pieces in the reverse order you removed them.

15.   If your deck has a removable face-plate, snap it into place.

16.   Installation is that easy, and you now just saved yourself some money! Enjoy your new stereo!

photos done by Steve - DIY Car Modifications